The present invention relates to self-service kiosks and more specifically to a method of limiting access to network sites for a network kiosk.
Retailers have a desire to sell their products over networks, such as global networks which are a part of the World Wide Web (WWW or “web”) and which use the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP protocol). These retailers wish to provide Internet server web sites which offer the same features as Internet server web sites available to home shoppers who use their computers to connect to the Internet server web sites.
Kiosks provide a publicly-accessible computing platform for displaying web pages from retailer web sites. Kiosks may be located within a retailer's transaction establishment or elsewhere, such as in shopping malls. Kiosks may be easily networked to retailer web sites using the TCP/IP protocol. Web pages from web sites may be displayed using known and available web software, such as Microsoft® Internet Explorer software.
One problem with allowing the general public to use a network kiosk is that an operator may choose not to visit web sites of the kiosk owner, thereby making the network kiosk less effective in promoting goods and services offered by the kiosk owner. However, if the kiosk owner were to prohibit any use of the network kiosk to access non-owner sites, use of the network kiosk would be less attractive to the general public and public use would fall off. Also, current methods of limiting access or “filtering” web site addresses used by web browser applications are not flexible enough to accommodate scheduled changes in access.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a method of limiting access to network sites for a network kiosk which makes the network kiosk attractive to both kiosk owners and to operators from the general public.